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#SundaySermon

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more on the murder (likely assassination) of Winston Smith Jr.

highlights:

Winston Smith was killed by federally deputized sheriffs at 2pm on June 3rd, 2021, on a rooftop parking garage after a date (first picture). His date was with him in the car and was treated for shrapnel wounds after the murder.

Law enforcement initially claimed Smith produced a gun, leading them to fire. They then said they found his gun in the glove compartment.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is choosing not to release the names of officers involved.

No officers were wearing body cameras.

Police have been escalating violence at protests for Smith, including the arrest of 2 water protectors from Camp Migizi, a site of resistance against the Line 3 pipeline.

Police used a “spit bag” (plastic mesh bag) over the head of one of the water protectors arrested.

Star Tribune initially reported that Smith was a murder suspect according to sources they won’t name. 5 days later, they rebuked their post and reported that Smith was wanted for illegal possession of firearm.

Community members claim Smith was a revolutionary and that this was an assassination. His social media posts align with this, as he’s quoted saying: “All this protesting shit, Y’all still coming with y’all ‘hands up’ saying y’all surrender. Beggin for y’all freedom. Asking for justice. Is y’all serious? Y’all serious? That’s the plan? … Something wrong with y’all … When Martin Luther King was here, we had a million motherfuckers marching saying ‘let’s be peaceful’ but now y’all still begging for your freedom and they still shooting y’all down.”

more

GoFundMe for Smith’s funeral expenses and family support

GoFundMe specifically for Smith’s 7th grade daughter

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Let’s Go Hawks !!

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Brooks was one of just 14 Republicans to oppose the overwhelmingly bipartisan bill that made Juneteenth a federal holiday this week. When he tried to explain why, it just made matters worse.

The QAnon-friendly congressman (and Alabama U.S. Senate candidate) feebly tried to make his vote about money, as reported at Al.com:

"A spokesman for Brooks did not respond to questions asking if the congressman had similar concerns about the cost to state taxpayers for the multiple Confederacy-related holidays in Alabama," the News-Courier reported.

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Greenwood/Tulsa OK was not an isolated instance.

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This is an African American spiritual and political protest song. The superficial interpretation says it’s a plea for help from God.

Today it’s used by oligarchs and fascists as cynical reply to reaching agreement with oppressed people.

Before Peter Paul and Mary introduced the song to white Americans in the 60s. There’s a deeper meaning to the song. My Gullah Geechee ancestors told me it was related to the Underground Railroad as a signal to my folks planning their escape from slavery not by heading north but south through the Okefenokee swamp into FL before it became a state and the Trail of Tears from FL to OK.

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SWEET HOME ALABAMA! JUNE 19TH, 2021 FREEDOM RIDE!

Thank you Birmingham, Alabama for spreading love and building power with us today! Rain or shine, our folks still showed up and showed out! It's About Us! Text "ALABAMA" to 797979!

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Filming the USS Enterprise - Star Trek (1966)

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MARVIN GAYE

"WHAT'S GOING ON"

Art by VAKSEEN

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Perhaps it is fitting that the plaque honoring D.W. Griffith’s movie ranch is on the same street where the Rodney King beating occurred. Both names inevitably lead to a conversation about racism in America. 

This marker was installed in 1959 and unveiled by two members of Griffith’s old repertory - Blanche Sweet and Mae Marsh. 

It is easily the most ludicrous spot for such a marker - on the fence of a propane station in an industrial strip against the freeway interchange. Rarely has a pedestrian ever crossed this corner. And if it were anyone other than D.W. Griffith, I might give a shit. Instead, I kind of like the fact he is shoved into this no man’s land on the very edge of town.

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Karim Akkouche once wrote: “Africa has lost its North, said the poet. The North is searching for itself. The latter has its feet in Africa and its head in the East. It is called the Maghreb. Sometimes the Arab Maghreb. Every time someone utters this appellation, they stick a knife in the chest of an Amazigh child.”

And I think of this often whenever I hear this term especially when it's used by supposedly "woke / anti-colonial" individuals. Maghreb which means west in Arabic is yet another linguistic attempt to put North Africa in the margine and to always define it in relation to other colonial forces. This name excludes North Africa from, well, Africa which in turn explains why the North is usually not included in pan-African sentiments. We're seen as outsiders in our own land and by calling ourselves that I believe we contribute to this exclusion. WE ARE IMAZIGHEN AND/OR NORTH AFRICANS.

An Algerian woman watching the first pan-African festival hosted by Algeria in 1969.

An Algerian Kel Azzejr girl in a festival in Djanet.

Portrait of a Moroccan woman from Ouarzazate.

Two Libyan women in the late 19th century.

A southern Tunisian woman wearing a M'lia.

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American History

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@pheredita-blog @infinite-marketing @megaeloise @southwrite @madmadammel @milescoaltrainmediaarts @randyfoster 

Ray-Ban Sunglasses

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@erukak @brittany17932 @seemstube34 @floatinground43 @pearl500 @d0pey-saur @princehamdansposts @egyking @frogsfrogsfrog @theculturalstudies @sumsoap32 @theblackhousevoice @artnbart @colonyrecall31 @risingphoenix87 @deviantpersuasion @definitionearlier32 @goddessclara55 @afroconfident @williray098 @ericleo108 @5tormy-blog1 @narongchaiv-blog @freakqncy-blog @mountainviewdigest @4x4fanatic1-blog @t-p-smythe-blog @hiits-blog @venus319-blog @lancescoular 

Ray-Ban Sunglasses

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The Morning After… Artist: @HowardLMorris

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The battle to save our democracy is joined. We must support our elected officials.

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Fred Hampton Jr visiting his father on Father’s Day…his grave is annually shot by local police